


It’ll Grow (Unlike You)

by MetamorphicRocky



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: Ed and his dumb little self are gonna be the death of me, Fluff, Gen, Humor, Parental Roy Mustang, slight Hurt/Comfort???
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-30
Updated: 2018-04-30
Packaged: 2019-04-30 01:41:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14486043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MetamorphicRocky/pseuds/MetamorphicRocky
Summary: When Colonel Mustang goes to receive an inventory of Fullmetal’s injuries at the hospital, he runs into a little surprise, courtesy of a very confused Ed.





	It’ll Grow (Unlike You)

**Author's Note:**

> I’m posting this at like one a.m. on a school night and I’m not sorry. I’m so heckin’ tired, but enjoy whatever this is!

Colonel Roy Mustang strode up to the reception desk with an air of annoyance. He did not want to be here at the moment. However, it was a good excuse to avoid doing paperwork. Paperwork that would only pile up while he was gone.

Roy sighed as he waited in the small line, wondering how long this alone would take. If he wasn’t done in five minutes, he would say screw it to hospital rules and walk around aimlessly until he found the room he was looking for.

He impatiently tapped his foot on the floor until Roy was finally standing in front of the desk.

“How may I help you today, sir?” the receptionist asked enthusiastically.

Roy plastered on his most charming smile possible. “I’m looking for the room of Edward Elric, if it wouldn’t trouble you?”

The woman easily fell for his quick charms, and she smiled back, a faint blush on her cheeks. “Well, of course! Let’s see...he’s in room 104, but only family is allowed in right now. Are you his family, sir?”

“I’m his commanding officer,” Roy stated. The woman furrowed her brow, and Roy knew that he wouldn’t be let in with that. With a sigh, he added, “I’m his legal guardian.”

The woman instantly perked up. “Well, sign here and then you can go on ahead!”

Roy signed quickly and left without much extra charm being thrown at the woman. He made quick work of walking through the hospital until he came to Edward’s door. Roy didn’t know what had happened, or how serious his injuries were; all he knew was that his subordinate had wound up here again, time after time.

The colonel opened the door and strode in, closing the door behind him. In the bed, a young boy, who was reading a book, looked up at the sound. 

Roy froze in his spot at the boy’s unfamiliarity, and the clear confusion and slight worry on the kid’s face. That kid with short, blond hair was not the Edward he knew at all. 

“I-I’m sorry, I must have been given the wrong room... I apologize for the intrusion,” Roy stammered, turning around to walk out the door. 

Oh hell, was that awkward. The kid didn’t need some random man walking into his hospital room!

Before he could walk out of the door, the kid behind him spluttered confusedly, “W-what? Mus-Mustang, what are you talking about?”

The colonel whipped around to look into the kid’s confused, _gold_ eyes, and Roy’s mouth fell agape. “ _Fullmetal?!_ ”

The kid–Fullmetal–nodded with a perplexed look on his face. The kid’s eyes shifted between the door behind Mustang and the man himself, and Roy could only stand there in utter shock. Roy knew that he looked like a complete idiot, just standing there and staring in pure _disbelief_ at Fullmetal.

“Colonel?” Fullmetal ventured cautiously. “Is your memory getting worse with old age? Are you having a stroke or something?”

Roy ignored that jab at his age (which wasn’t old _at all_ ) to walk up to the only bed in the room. Edward looked more and more confused as Roy approached, and he looked mildly nervous. 

“Colonel, are you okay?” Ed asked, grasping at straws for his superior officer’s odd behavior. And if Roy had to guess, his subordinate even seemed...a little scared?

Roy finally stood next to Fullmetal’s bed, and he continued to stare at the kid. What the actual hell had happened?!

“Fullmetal...,” Roy whispered finally, his mouth closing and opening like a drowning fish. “What happened to your hair?”

Fullmetal’s face lost its confusion to an utterly blank expression. “My...hair?”

The kid took his left hand and reached behind his head, trying to grasp something, but he only met empty air. Edward blinked, scrunching up his nose in bewilderment. He moved his hand until it connected with the base of his neck, and Fullmetal choked on his own breath.

Roy could only watch as Ed raked his hand through his hair; his extremely short hair, that was shorter than Roy’s own. The boy moved his hand to his bangs, only to startle when he learned that those were cut, too.

“Mustang?” Ed whispered, his voice calmer than either of the two men felt.

“Yes, Fullmetal?”

Fullmetal turned to him, his hand mussing up his new haircut, and there were _tears_ in his eyes. “Where did my hair go?”

Roy only stood there in shock as Ed moaned miserably, his tears streaking down his face, “Colonel, what happened to it?”

“I-I don’t know, Fullmetal...,” Roy stammered, being caught by surprise. 

He had never seen Fullmetal _cry_ before, nor would he have ever expected to see it. And he was crying over his hair being cut. Of course Roy had been shocked by it, but he never would have expected the boy to have big, fat tears streaming across his cheeks.

What was he supposed to do when faced with a crying Fullmetal—a crying _child_?!

Ever so cautiously, Roy lowered himself onto the bed to sit next to his subordinate. His hand hesitated over Ed’s left shoulder, until he finally gave it an awkward pat. The boy turned to look at him then, and suddenly, Edward shoved his face into Roy’s side as he let out a loud wail, wrapping his arms around the man’s torso.

Roy startled at the iron grip and the sudden sign that Ed needed comfort. This was Fullmetal, why the hell did he need comforting from _him_ of all people?! Roy didn’t know how to soothe people, nor did he know how to calm a crying kid.

Fullmetal sobbed again, burying his face deeper into his superior officer’s side. Oh hell, Roy was so screwed. 

“Shh, it’s okay,” Roy whispered quickly. “Fullmetal, don’t cry; it’s fine.”

Somehow, his attempts only caused Edward to cry even harder, and Roy winced. 

“Ed, shhh, your hair is fine. You don’t have to cry, alright?” Roy was gentler this time, but just as unsure of himself. He slowly wound his arms around Fullmetal’s small frame, patting him on the back gently.

The colonel was about to try another verbal comfort when the sound of someone entering the room diverted his attention away from Fullmetal.

“Oh dear, is he alright?” asked the doctor who had just entered. 

The older man winced with Roy as Fullmetal let out another loud wail. Roy moved further onto the bed so that Ed’s head was shoved into the crook of the colonel’s neck, and Roy continued to shush him, the man growing increasingly more frantic.

“He noticed that his hair was cut, and he just started wailing,” Roy provided to the doctor. “I’ve never seen him cry before, so did he receive a head injury or something that could have caused this?”

Ed’s breath hitched as he continuously cried, and Roy felt a sharp _something_ grasp at his chest; and it hurt. 

“Mr. Elric doesn’t have a head injury, no.” The doctor looked at the clipboard he held, searching for some kind of answer. Roy knew that he found one when the man’s eyes widened, and he uttered a quiet, “Oh no.”

“‘Oh no’ what?” Roy asked.

The doctor cleared his throat and tucked his clipboard underneath his arm, trying to look as professional as possible. “I’m sorry about this, but one of my nurses gave him too high of a dosage of painkillers. They must have not factored in the body mass loss from the automail, or they could have given him the dosage based on his weight with the automail.

“I’m leaning towards the latter, so he had to have gotten a much higher dose than he should have. This would cause his...uncharacteristically emotional outbreak. I’m terrible sorry about this, sir,” the man explained, genuinely looking apologetic. 

“Do you know how his hair was cut?”

The doctor nodded. “It had been all messed up and cut during whatever scuffle he faced, so one of our nurses made it look even and presentable. It’s a shame that his hair couldn’t be salvaged, based on the boy’s state.”

“You can say that again,” Roy muttered. “Now, what am I supposed to do with him?”

“Just comfort him until he stops, tires himself, or the painkillers wear off. Whichever comes first. And be positive about it!”

With that, the man said he would come back later and quickly sneaked out of the room, doing what Roy wished he could have done.

He sighed and looked down at Fullmetal, who was still crying miserably. Roy shifted slightly on the bed, causing Fullmetal to slip into his lap. Oh, he was so glad that Hughes wasn’t here with his stupid camera. 

“Hey, Ed? Did you hear the doctor?” Roy asked gently. Ed looked up at the colonel with red-rimmed eyes, sniffling as tears dribbled down his tear-stained cheeks, and he shook his head. Fullmetal looked exactly like a five year old who’s favorite toy was broken, with snot dripping down his still incredibly young face. “You lost your hair in whatever fight you were in, so they had to cut it more so that it didn’t look ugly.”

That did the opposite of what Roy wanted when Fullmetal managed to have even _more_ tears stream down his face.

“My hair’s ugly?” he croaked, his voice wobbly and incredibly sad. 

“No! No, it’s not ugly!” Roy rushed to amend, rubbing hurried circles on Ed’s back. “It’s not ugly at all!”

“You promise?” Ed whispered between hitched breaths. 

The colonel nodded. “Yep. I promise. So don’t cry, okay, Ed?”

Roy smiled down at the young alchemist, trying to cheer him up, but it still didn’t work.

“I miss my braid!” Fullmetal wailed, sobs racking his small frame.

Oh hell, when would he stop crying?! The longer it went on, the more it distressed Roy. He wouldn’t admit it out loud, but seeing his subordinate in such turmoil and upset was making him feel a pain in his chest that he couldn’t explain. It was so weird, but he knew that it wouldn’t go away until he calmed the kid in his arms.

“Shh, Ed, it’s not the end of the world.” 

Without thinking, Roy placed a hand on Fullmetal’s head and carded his fingers through his short hair. Surprisingly, Ed seemed to have quieted, albeit it minimally. So, Roy continued with that motion.

“It’s ugly,” Fullmetal muttered, sniffling pathetically. 

“I told you, it’s not ugly. To be honest, I’m jealous,” Roy said, trying to smile at the boy who looked up at him in puzzlement. “I think your haircut looks great, and I _wish_ that I could pull it off like you do.”

In Roy’s mind, he was punching himself in the face for every word that came out of his mouth. He sounded like an idiot, talking like that! Especially to Fullmetal of all people!

“Really?” Ed mumbled. 

“Mhm.” Roy smiled at Ed encouragingly. “And even if you don’t like, it’ll grow back soon Ed. But, I think it looks nice.”

Fullmetal sniffled and slouched down on Roy’s chest, his tears finally slowing. The man exhaled in relief, until he noticed that Fullmetal’s eyes were closing, and he still hadn’t let go of him. 

“Um, Ed, you can go to sleep if you’d like, but let go of me first,” Roy said, gently trying to pry himself out of Edward’s grip of steel.

“But you’re comfy,” Edward slurred, nuzzling his face into Roy’s warm jacket. 

“Ed, you can’t sleep on me.”

“Yeah I can....”

“No, you can’t. I have to go back to work,” Roy pleaded. Oh, if this kid didn’t let go, this would not end well. 

“Paperwork’s stupid,” Ed mumbled sternly. “Sleep’s better.”

“I’d much rather sleep than do paperwork, but I have to go, Ed.”

Fullmetal’s sleepiness must have outweighed his want for Roy to be his pillow, so Roy was able to push his arms away when his grip slackened. Edward flopped down onto his side and curled up under his sheets tiredly.

“I’ll see you later, Fullmetal,” Roy said as he backed away from the bed. 

“Bye bye, Colonel...,” Ed said childishly. And then he fell asleep, breathing softly. 

Roy’s shoulders slumped in relief, and he scrubbed his hands across his face in exhaustion. He never wanted to deal with a crying Fullmetal again. 

With none of what Roy planned to have done today actual completed, he walked out of the hospital room and nearly walked into Alphonse. 

“Oh, hello, Colonel!” Alphonse greeted cheerfully.

“Hello, Alphonse. What have you been doing?”

“I just called Winry to have her come by and fix Brother’s automail, since his leg got damaged. Are you leaving now?” Al asked politely. 

The colonel nodded. “I have to head back to work before Hawkeye shoots me for slacking. I apologize for only talking to you briefly, but it was nice to see you again.”

“It was nice to see you, too. I’ll see you when Brother gives you his report once he’s out of here,” Al said. 

Roy nodded politely and began walking down the hallway to leave, but he stopped. “Oh, Alphonse?”

The suit of armor clanked as he paused in moving into the room. “Yes, Colonel?”

“When your brother wakes up, tell him that his hair looks lovely.”

And with that, Roy waved over his shoulder, leaving the younger Elric to sit in confusion until his older brother awoke.

—•—•—

When Roy’s office door slammed open, he knew exactly who had come to visit without having to look up from his paperwork.

“Welcome back to the land of the living, Fullmetal.”

Fullmetal stomped up to his desk, eerily quieter than usual. Roy looked up, and was met with a blushing Edward. 

“Something wrong?” Roy asked calmly.

“Nothing, bastard,” Fullmetal growled, throwing a piece of paper onto Roy’s desk. “Is that it?”

“Are you going to grow your hair out to its old length, or will you keep it short?”

If it was even possible, Fullmetal’s blush grew an even darker shade of red. 

Ed crossed his arms across his chest protectively. “I’m growing it.”

Roy smirked, “It sure would be a shame for the Fullmetal Alchemist to lose his signature braid so early into his career, don’t you think?”

“Well, someone said this didn’t look like shit, so it wouldn’t be that bad. I prefer long hair anyways!” Fullmetal said, pouting when Roy’s smirk only grew. 

“Whoever said that your hair looked good must be a genius, then.”

The colonel watched as Fullmetal tried to hide his blush in his bangs, only to realize that his bangs were only small, wavy wisps of the wall of hair they were before. 

He stood up from his desk to stand next to the kid, and he placed a hand atop of Ed’s golden locks. 

“Trust me, it looks fine. It was quite the shock when I first saw it, though. I have to say that it suits you, but I think we all miss your braid,” Roy said, ruffling Ed’s hair quickly. “Besides, your hair will grow quickly enough. Now, if only the rest of you could grow like your hair will.”

Fullmetal’s face reddened in rage, and he slapped the colonel’s hand away immediately. “Shut the hell up, bastard!”

Roy laughed as Fullmetal went on one of his rants, the kid fuming the entire time. When he was done, he huffed and walked to the door. Ed placed his hand on the handle, but he hesitated before he left. 

“Thanks for...yeah. See you around, bastard.”

Ed quickly left the office, shutting the door quietly for once. 

Roy shook his head with a smile; that kid would be the death of him one day. He shook the thoughts of Ed and his hair as short as its owner from his head, and he went back to work.


End file.
